A special team of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) arrived in Ashgabat to conduct a mutual assessment of the system for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML / CFT).
On August 2, the Minister of Finance and Economy Muhammetgeldy Serdarov discussed the details of this work with the Executive Secretary of the EAG Sergey Teterukov , the press service of the Ministry of Finance of Turkmenistan reported .
The minister assured Tetrukov that AML/CFT work has been strengthened in the country, including through the use of modern technologies and digital tools.
“This work has become one of the main directions of our national system,” Serdarov said, adding that President Serdar Berdimuhamedov also gives this issue a high priority.
Sergey Teterukov thanked the minister for his assistance in conducting mutual evaluation events and the visit of experts to Turkmenistan, and also expressed confidence that the outcome of this work would be positive.
The meeting is not reported on the EAG website .
The upcoming visit of the EAG representatives to Turkmenistan to assess the national system of the country was reported back in February 2020. It was then planned that the visit would take place in September of the same year, but this was prevented by the coronavirus pandemic.
It should be noted that a few months before the visit of the EAG experts to Turkmenistan on the work on AML / CFT, as well as the creation of various commissions to combat the legalization of proceeds from crime, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammetguly Mukhammedov reported to the President . On July 1, he reported on the creation of another such Interdepartmental Commission, which "will help to successfully resolve obligations arising from relevant international treaties."
At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on July 30, the new Deputy Prime Minister Hojamyrat Geldimyradov , who is in charge of the economy and finance, reported on work in this direction.
In addition, the OSCE has been holding seminars for Turkmen officials on money laundering and terrorist financing since at least 2013. The last such training took place in March.
The EAG was established in 2004. It includes nine states: Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Group's activities are aimed at reducing the threat of international terrorism and ensuring the transparency, reliability and security of the financial systems of states and their further integration into the international infrastructure for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan